Passion Sunday 2021:The Woman with the Alabaster Jar

St. Mark begins his Passion narrative in a curious way. Instead of beginning it with the Last Supper, he begins it with a different meal, in which Jesus dines at the home of Simon the leper in Bethany. A woman enters and does something that catches everyone's attention. She takes a super-expensive jar of perfumed oil, breaks it, and pours out the liquid on Jesus's head. The aroma of this loving act wafts over the whole passion narrative and helps us to see that Jesus is the one who allows himself to be broken and his blood poured out for us -- out of devotion and love for us. What kind of gift will we give him in return?